


Changing the Rules

by tinx_r



Category: Riptide (TV)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-01-19
Updated: 2011-01-19
Packaged: 2017-10-14 21:25:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,396
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/153606
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tinx_r/pseuds/tinx_r
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's Cody's game, but Nick isn't playing by the rules...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Changing the Rules

Cody starts it.

Her name's Jade and she's from out of town - Cody can't remember where, offhand, but it wasn't driving distance and that's what counts - and Cody ran into her by chance on the pier in the late afternoon. One thing led to another, and then Happy Hour at Straightaway's led to dinner. Followed by Nick walking in the door, with Murray at his heels, and stopping short when he saw Cody.

That's the point.

Cody studiously ignores him--pretends he hasn't seen either of his partners--but grins to himself when Nick stomps ostentatiously past their usual booth and takes one of the cane tables on the terrace instead. A table that gives him a clear view of Cody.

Dessert's an ice cream sundae with two spoons, and Nick's glower on the back of Cody's neck makes it all the sweeter. Jade's telling him something involved about her brother and a college in the Midwest, but Cody's not dating her for her small-talk.

He doesn't much like to dance, but when she suggests it, he goes willingly enough. It demands less conversation, after all. Cody executes a couple of twirls then pulls her close, maneuvering so that he's watching Nick over Jade's shoulder.

Nick's mouth is pinched, his eyes narrowed, and he's carefully looking at Murray. But Cody sees the way his eyes stray to the dance floor and light on him, then flick away.

Cody's got the rest of the night all planned out--a moonlight stroll down the pier, a final nightcap, a kiss at the door of her suite and a vague promise for tomorrow. Nick'll be pissed, but Cody's got more than one trick up his sleeve when it comes to charming his partner back to good humor.

He's thinking about that, not about the girl in his arms, when Murray starts waving and moments later there are two pretty girls at the table. One of whom pulls her chair close to Nick and snuggles into his side, and Nick puts his arm around her with every evidence of enjoyment.

"Cody? Is something wrong?" Jade tugs at his arm, and Cody tears his eyes from his partners, just catching the edge of the triumphant smirk Nick sends his way.

He makes some excuse but she isn't convinced--clearly, because in less than half an hour Cody's on his own, sitting morosely at his table, downing whiskey like it's going out of fashion, and Jade's dancing with one of the lifeguards. Cody couldn't care less: he cant keep his eyes from Nick and Murray and the racy-looking blonde who may as well be in Nick's lap.

This isn't how the game was supposed to play at all.

Flirting with girls is something Cody does. He's got a warm smile and an easy way about him; girls like him--and he likes that they like him. He likes the way it feels to walk down the pier with a pretty girl and feel jealous eyes on him.

And he really likes to feel Nick's eyes on him, jealous and possessive. Owning him from afar. That's what the game is all about.

Nick's eyes on the girl, Nick's hands on the girl feel like a betrayal. The way Nick looks at her leaves Cody alone--frighteningly alone--in a trap of his own making. It's Cody's game, but now that Nick's not following Cody's rules, it's not a game anymore.

He orders another whiskey, and stares into the swirling brown with fierce concentration. He wants to leave--he's had enough--but he can't leave til Nick does, not now the rules have changed. Sitting here watching is bad enough; waiting on the Riptide would be unbearable.

He doesn't have long to wait. Nick pays the bill then he and Murray usher their dates out. No-one looks at Cody.

Cody sits over his drink for a miserable five minutes--he wants to follow them, but he can't bear the thought of them seeing him following--then gestures to the waitress to put everything on his tab and slips out into the night.

The pier's empty, and there's a chill wind blowing in from the ocean. Cody remembers belatedly he's left a jacket in Straightaway's coat-check, but he's not turning back for it now. He heads down the pier toward the Riptide with long, quick strides.

The Vette's missing, and the boat's dark. Cody stops in front of the gate and tangles a hand in the wire, staring. _Nick's a gentleman, he wouldn't leave a girl to walk home in the dark._ But Cody can't stop thinking of the blonde's caressing touches, Nick's flirty smiles. An anonymous motel room, a night cap. A night.

Cody wants to cry, but he's too empty for that. He takes the gatelock in hands that feel clumsy and fragile. The cold metal bites into his fingers and he drops it, unopened.

"Man, if she's pretty enough to make you forget the combination, I've got a bigger problem than I realized."

Nick's there, suddenly, in the dark, his arm strong across Cody's back, his other hand deftly opening the lock. Cody stares at him, at the empty space where the Vette should be, at the dark boat. There's no sign of the girl.

"Hey. Hey! It's okay." Nick lets the gate fall open and turns to Cody, pulling him close.

Cody starts to shake, barely able to find the co-ordination to hold on to Nick. The relief's making him light-headed. He's angry at himself--for doubting, for starting the stupid game--and he's angry at Nick for breaking the rules, for making the game so suddenly, horrifyingly real.

Abruptly, he pulls away and starts down the companionway. He hears the clink of chain as Nick fastens the gate, then his partner's footsteps, firm and quick, behind him. Nick catches him as he enters the salon: Cody pulls away again and goes downstairs.

Nick follows. He lounges against the doorjamb, flicking on the light as Cody turns at bay.

Cody's ashamed, angry, heartbroken, hysterical. He takes refuge in his anger, holding it before him like a shield. "I didn't expect you home so soon. What was her name?"

"Kara? Carlene? Something like that. Murray'll know. He's gone to drop them off. Why, are you thinking of looking her up? I agree, she's more of a looker than the girl who dumped you for Duncham."

"Dunman, if you mean the lifeguard." Cody flushes. "And no, I'm not thinking of looking anyone up! Especially not some girl you've got your eye on--"

"Whoa." Nick steps into the room, into Cody's personal space. The impulse to move closer, to touch him, is nearly unbearable, but Cody fights it and stands silent, staring into Nick's eyes.

Nick stares back, his intense blue eyes burning into Cody's, stripping away the anger and everything else between them. Burning a path clear to Cody's soul.

Finally he closes the space between them. One arm around Cody, holding him close, the other hand cupping Cody's chin. Bending his head and claiming Cody's mouth in a long savage kiss that seems to go on for ever.

If Cody had felt heat in Nick's eyes, it's nothing to the heat in Nick's kiss. The way Nick holds him, touches him, pushing him down on the bed and straddling him, making him Nick's more surely than any fleeting expression in his eyes.

Nick's on him, everywhere, leaving him nowhere to hide. Taking him apart until he begs for mercy, for more, for everything. Until at last he's spent; safe, sated and not a little chastened in the shelter of Nick's arms.

This is no game. It's not something to be trifled with, played with, walked away from. Now, at this moment, Cody can't imagine ever thinking of anyone else. There's no room; Nick's in his heart, his mind, possessing his senses so utterly there's no other sensation. Not now; not ever.

He tries to apologize, to explain, even though there's no words big enough, not for this. But Nick wont let him, quieting him with a kiss, forgiveness and absolution and a promise all in one.

"I think," Nick says at last, holding Cody close against his chest, "we both know what's important now. You know?"

Cody looks into his eyes. Truth and strength and safety. Everything Cody's ever wanted.

"I know."


End file.
